Refrigerator tray



Oct. 22, 1935. F. s. A. CRUICKSHANK 2,018,252

REFRIGERATOR TRAY Filed June 11, 1934 Wl N INVENTOR 4 k v FPan/r fiardon A Grazia/(shank v Patented a. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to means to prevent refrigerator trays from freezing to the refrigerating element, and has for an object to provide means whereby the tray is held spaced away from the refrigerating element by such means as to minimize the adhesion produced by freezing.

A further object of the'invention is to provide a tray or a support for the tray which has protuberances extending downwardly from the bottom thereof to relatively attenuated supporting extremities, whereby the area of contact between the tray or its support and the refrigerating element is reduced to a minimum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a plate of material of such size and proportion as to support a tray, said supporting element having protuberances extending below the surface thereof for contact with the refrigerating element so that upon the removal of the tray, the supporting element will be removed with the tray by reason of the minimum, contact with the refrigerating element, and will be. released therefrom by the use of water or other means, whereby the frozen contents of the tray is released.

The invention, therefore, comprises in combination with a refrigerating element having a bottom surface relatively .plane, of a refrigerating element having extending below the bottom thereof protuberances of conical, frustro-conical, pyramid, or semi-spherical shape, whereby the contacting extremities of said protuberances are relatively small and offer but slight resistance to the withdrawal of the tray, such protuberances being formed directly upon the bottom of the tray or upon a plate of material supporting the tray and formed by pressing such protuberances directly into the metal, if such is the material of the tray, or casting, molding or otherwise providing the protuberances upon the bottom of the tray or plate, with other than pressed metal.

The drawing illustrates several embodiments of the invention and the views therein are as follows: a I

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a conventional refrigerator cabinet with the refrigerating element therein and trays for freezing in position,

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation of the trays,

Figure 3 is a view in section taken through the refrigerating element, showing the trays in side elevation,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section taken through one of the trays about on the plane represented by the line 4-4 of Figure 5,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of one of the trays as indicated at arrow 5 at Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a plan view of a plate upon which a conventional tray may be seated, and

Figure 7 is a view in edge elevation of the supporting plate shown at Figure 6.

Like characters of reference indicate corre- 5 sponding parts throughout the several views.

It is well known that in the ordinary refrigerator of the mechanical or absorption type, trays are employed for the freezing of ice cubes or other frozen materials, which said trays are inserted 10 within the refrigerating element and rest upon substantially plane surfaceswithin such element.

It is also well-known that the plane surfaces of the bottoms of the trays freeze into engagement with the surface of the refrigerating element by reason of the water of condensation or water spilled, so that the release of the tray from such refrigerating element is a matter of considerable exertion and the employment of utensils for the purpose of separating the tray from the refrigerating element results in damage to the tray or therefrigerating element.

In the present invention the trays 10 are of approximately the usual and ordinary type as employed in such instances. The trays, however, depart from the ordinary in that there is produced on the bottoms protuberances I l If the trays are made of sheet metal, as is now customary in a majority of cases, these protuberances are produced by stamping from within, as indicated at II, which produces corresponding protuberances upon the bottom. Trays of glass or other molded material are, however, coming into use and the present invention includes the use of such molded or cast trays in which case the protuberances II will merely be cast or molded upon the bottoms of such trays without afiecting the interior.

For use with the type of refrigerating element and trays now in use, a plate I3 is provided, stamped at M to provide protuberances l5 upon the bottoms, similar to the protuberances upon the bottoms of the trays ID.

The present type of tray is merely set upon this plate l4 and plate and tray inserted into the refrigerating element; spilled water and water of condensation will freeze the tray to this plate but the plate will not adhere seriously to' the refrigerating element because of the protuberances. When withdrawing the tray the plate will be withdrawn with the tray as it will be frozen thereto and will be released only by the application of water or other means usually employed, for releasing the contents of thetray. When re-inserted the tray will be again set upon the plate I3 and inserted in the usual manner.

Of course, the refrigerator tray illustrated may be modified and changed in various ways without 5 departing from the invention herein set forth and hereinafter claimed.

I claim:-

A refrigerator tray comprising side and end walls and a plane bottom plate, said walls and plate defining a space in which materials to be frozen are contained, said bottom plate being formed with indentations from'the interior, said indentations being evidenced on the under side of the plate in the form of spherically segmental protuberances, which protuberances constitute a means for maintaining the trays spaced from a supporting surface.

FRANK GORDON A. CRUICKSHANK. i r 

